24736 Marketing Communications

Faculty of Business: Marketing
Credit points: 6 cp

Subject level: Postgraduate

Result Type: Grade and marks

Requisite(s): ((24734 Marketing Management OR 24746 Marketing: Concepts and Applications) AND 24710 Buyer Behaviour)
These requisites may not apply to students in certain courses.
There are also course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.

Handbook description

This subject examines advertising, promotion and business communication decisions from an advanced viewpoint based on theory and research findings. It provides managers with systematic approaches to setting advertising and promotion objectives, establishing budgets, identifying relevant target audiences, formulating and testing strategies and evaluating campaign results. It considers contemporary issues in advertising, together with reference to complementary aspects such as publicity and direct marketing and includes an applied project covering these decision factors.

Subject objectives/outcomes

On successful completion of this subject students should be able to:

Understand managerial decisions that need to be made with respect to an advertising and sales promotion campaign.
Apply principles, concepts and tools that aid advertising executives and brand managers in planning an advertising and sales promotion campaign.
Prepare a campaign planning brief for a local or global marketing communications project.
Make better decisions about the marketing communications mix; this mix includes not only advertising and sales promotion but also elements such as direct marketing and public relations.
Plan marketing communications in a comprehensive and integrated manner.
Present a marketing communications campaign for a good or service.

Contribution to graduate profile

Since advertising, sales promotion and other forms of marketing communication are critical elements that can help or hinder a product's introduction and growth in the marketplace, this subject provides a basis for understanding these promotional tools in a firm's marketing mix. It provides a framework for planning the marketing communications program of a good or service.

Content

Decisions about advertising and sales promotion
Marketing mix decisions
Public relations
Publicity management
Direct marketing.

Assessment

Individual Assignment (Individual)	35%
This assignment will allow students to analyse and present a marketing communication campaign of competing brands within a particular product category. In so doing, they will understand managerial decisions that were made with respect to an advertising and sales promotion campaign and appreciate the need to plan marketing communications in a comprehensive and integrated manner. It will allow students to demonstrate that they have met objectives 1, 2, 4 and 5.
Group Assignment (Group)	30%
This assignment will allow students to apply theoretical concepts and address practical issues, when formulating and presenting a marketing communications plan for the launch of a good or service. It will enable students to demonstrate that they have met objectives 1-6.
Final Examination (Individual)	35%
This exam consists of a case study and short answer questions. It will test students' understanding of the theory. It will allow students to demonstrate that they have met objectives 1, 2 and 4.

Recommended text(s)

Belch, G. and Belch, M. (2004), Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated

Marketing Communications Perspective, 6th edition, Irwin/McGraw-Hill.

School of Marketing (2002), Readings for Marketing Communications, School of Marketing, University of Technology, Sydney.

Indicative references

Rossiter, J. and Percy, L. (1997), Advertising Communications and Promotion Management, 2nd edition, McGraw-Hill. (Note: This is a key reference.)

Shimp, T. (2000), Advertising and Promotion: Supplemental Aspects of Integrated Marketing Communications, 5th edition, The Dryden Press (Harcourt Brace and Company International Edition).